


Mutual Affection

by DesertVixen



Category: Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
Genre: F/M, Married Life, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-20
Updated: 2016-08-20
Packaged: 2018-08-09 23:13:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7820974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DesertVixen/pseuds/DesertVixen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Charlotte Collins' married life is not so bad...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mutual Affection

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sobriquett](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sobriquett/gifts).



She sat on the bed, waiting. 

Her mother had spoken of her marital duties in vague terms. Charlotte was well aware that her husband, like many others, desired a son to inherit his entailed estate and whatever wealth he could amass. Otherwise, as Mr. Collins had good reason to know, it would pass to an as-yet unknown distant relative. 

She knew that physical intimacy was needed to provide an heir, but that bare fact left much room for discovery. Charlotte was old enough to know that stolen kisses and groping hands were not quite enough, but that they led to this mysterious intimacy. There had been an unlucky housemaid and footman when she was younger who had been sent away from Lucas Lodge. They had married, but there had been whispers that the first babe was quite healthy for being born only seven months afterward. 

That was the sum of Charlotte’s knowledge on the subject.

She had duties, while he had desires and rights. Charlotte would do her best to satisfy those desires. After all, Mr. Collins was providing her with an escape, a chance to be something besides the eternal plain spinster daughter. Charlotte had told Elizabeth that her chance of happiness with Mr. Collins was as great as anyone else’s chance, and she had meant it. He needed a capable, genteel, useful sort of wife – all capabilities that Charlotte possessed in abundance – while she needed a husband.

She had never been a romantic woman, and found it easier to discard the possibility of a grand passion than to risk the chance of being trapped in her current existence. She would be content with her own home, with Mr. Collins as her partner.

They would unite in practicality. 

He had been the very picture of propriety during their brief engagement, not even trying to steal a kiss. Charlotte knew she was not the sort of woman who excited passion, knew that her thin frame and somewhat sharp features did not make men fall at her feet. She had donned one of the luxurious lace-trimmed nightgowns her mother had included in her trousseau, but it failed to transform her, to make her feel more desirable. She was practical and honest when it came to assessing herself, and noted that for all the flowery language Mr. Collins had used to propose to her, he had said nothing about her beauty.

The knock on the door startled Charlotte out of her reverie. It was a little tentative, but she knew there could only be one person on the other side of the door.

Her husband.

“Come in,” she called softly. 

***

Later, she lay in the dark, next to her sleeping husband. 

Charlotte could only assume that she had performed her duty well enough, as he had seemed satisfied. She had to own that she didn’t see why so many people were willing to be caught in compromising circumstances for an act that hardly seemed worth it. There had been pain, as he had warned her, but after the first sharp moment, Charlotte had found it tolerable. His hands and mouth had been gentle, if perhaps a bit clumsy. He had even pressed a kiss to her cheek before falling asleep.

Somehow that seemed more intimate than anything else they had done in the dark.

Still, it was done. 

She was a wife.

*** 

The early months of their marriage saw them settle into a comfortable routine. The parsonage that was part of Mr. Collins’ living provided ample scope for her abilities. It was true that her husband could be pompous and quite in love with the sound of his own voice, but a lifetime of being Sir William Lucas’ daughter had given Charlotte the ability to listen with only part of her attention. He was solicitous of his own comfort, but not at her expense. 

When Lizzy visited them, Charlotte was anxious to show that her friend’s concerns about Charlotte’s marriage had been unfounded, that Charlotte was happy in her own way. They had settled into a routine that worked well, that made them content.

There were all the small moments that Charlotte knew that Lizzy would never understand, how Mr. Collins made sure that his garden included flowers that Charlotte was fond of, just as she had undertaken to learn even the tiniest details about his domestic comforts. Her marriage was not a romantic one, but Charlotte was happy. She had a house that she could order to her liking, a respectable position as a clergyman’s wife, and the knowledge that he would not have to remain in this living forever. One day, hopefully far in the future, he would inherit Longbourn and Charlotte could return to Meryton. Until then, she could deal with Lady Catherine de Bourgh.

There was only one thing that was really lacking in her life, but Charlotte had every hope that she would soon be granted her greatest wish.

Her husband came to her once a week. Charlotte found some aspects of it pleasant enough, but nothing more. He seemed pleased enough, but Charlotte put more stock in the small gestures of affection he showed her, such as leaving flowers in her room. It gave him a chance to boast of his gardening skill, but she noticed that he made an effort to leave the flowers that she mentioned liking best. 

Affection seemed a far better goal than any grand passion, in Charlotte’s opinion.

*** 

Charlotte leaned back against the plump pillows, grateful to the nurse for helping her tidy herself. The older woman had confided that Mr. Collins had spent the entire afternoon pacing in his garden, but that he was anxiously waiting for permission to enter her room. 

“Please tell him to come in,” Charlotte said as she looked down into the face of her son. Their son. He seemed a fine, healthy boy, with a set of strong lungs and an ample appetite.

He came in, and Charlotte smiled at him. For once, he seemed uncertain as to how to handle himself, and at a loss for words. 

“Look at our son,” Charlotte told him as he leaned over her.

He touched the baby’s face gently, then turned to Charlotte. “He looks quite fine. And how are you, my dear?”

Charlotte smiled at him. “Happy.”

Perhaps she didn’t have a grand passion, but Charlotte reflected that she had just about everything she could want.

**Author's Note:**

> So, I hope you enjoyed this! I enjoyed looking at this couple, since they're not really portrayed in a romantic light, and your prompt was super helpful. While Mr. Collins is not an easy character to like, exactly, he's not a bad guy. And I have an affection for Charlotte Lucas, which made this a fun story to write.
> 
> This is, of course, for the book fandom, but I always picture these two exactly as they are portrayed in the 1995 miniseries.


End file.
